Kickstarter

In Short

We are looking to capture the spirit of four of our nation's national parks- located at the cardinal extremes of our country.  From mountain spires to temperate rain forests to coral reefs- each hold a diverse and unique ecosystem.

Intro

My name is Micky Girardi. I am a landscape photographer based on Hilton Head in South Carolina. I don't want to bore you, so if you'd like more info about me or my site (MRG Foto), you can read my bio to the right.

I will be teaming up with writer, teacher and friend Vin O'hara. Vin is based in our hometown in Connecticut; a life long friend and published writer, he will be providing the literary aspect for the project.

Enough about us though- let's talk about what you came here for.

We're all making a book. That's right- ALL. We need your help!

The Details

The idea behind the project is fairly simple. NWSE stands for each of the four cardinal directions- North, West, South, East- which we have applied to our nation's national parks.

We have chosen four parks located at the cardinal extremes of our countries boarders with vastly different ecosystems, elevations and climate. Through a series of photos we will aim to capture the spirit of each location and show the vast contrast of our nation from coast to coast.

The book will not only contain photographs in MRG’s elegant and unique sepia style, but vibrant color photos as well.

We will post our progress on our blog throughout the project to keep everyone involved. We have a great route outlined and hope everyone joins us for the journey.

Locations:

North Cascades National Park (N): While both North Cascades National Park and nearby Glacier National Park both sit on the boarder with Canada, we have chosen the smaller, less popular of the two. North Cascades has the most glaciers of any park outside of Alaska and is mostly covered by protected wilderness- a perfect attribute for capturing its natural serenity.

Olympic National Park (W): Not far from North Cascades lies Olympic National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site that is home to the best preserved and largest temperate rain forest in the US. With annual rain fall between 12 and 14 feet, it has no problem staying green all year round. On top of that, Olympic National Park boasts an impressive range of other natural features, from rocky coastlines to sub alpine meadows and Mount Olympus.

Biscayne National Park (S): Though close, Biscayne is not the farthest south- the Everglades extends about 20 miles farther south- we wanted to highlight the smaller of the two and accentuate its unique attribute. Of its 172,000 acres, 95% of them are under water- a vast contrast from all other national parks in the US.

Acadia National Park (E): Lafayette National Park was the first park established east of the Mississippi in 1919. It wasn't until 1929 that its name was changed to what we know it as today. While it is a smaller park at 47,000 acres, it is the eastern most park in the continental US and only national park in the north east.

The Book

As I mentioned earlier, the ultimate goal of this project is to create a coffee table photo book to show the unique beauty of these parks. We are looking to create a 10x8 hardcover book with matte paper, linen cover and dust jacket. The more we raise, the more money we can put into publishing costs, including a larger size and higher-volume order.

Where the Funds are Going

Other FYI

Accommodations: Camping at its finest. To keep costs minimal, we will be camping during the project.

Food: A needed expense we will tackle on our own.

Gear: We have just about all the gear we need. Should we need anything, we will get it on our own.

Time frame

We're looking to do the project in two 10-day segments this July and August. We will be spending 10-12 days in the West to cover North Cascades and Olympic Parks, and 10-12 days in the East covering Acadia and Biscayne. Ideally we would like to spend 4-5 days in each park, with 1-2 travel days in each leg.

Incentives

As you are aware, we are asking for $6,000. If we go above and beyond, we feel that our backers obviously deserve above and beyond. If we reach these goals;

$8,000+ - We will add a 8x10 print to every backer starting at the $5 level.

$10,000+ - We will add a 11x17 print to every backer starting at the $5 level.

$12,000+ - We will upgrade the size of the book to a 13x11, with all the specs outlined above (hardcover book with matte paper, linen cover and dust jacket).

$15,000+ - Every level of rewards will be; upgraded a print size- starting with 5x7 images for the $5 level. The book will be upgraded to the larger size as well.

In Closing

We hope you find our project worthwhile and whether you back it or not, we ask that you tell a friend, tweet it, or simply scream from the rooftops about it. The more money we can raise, the bigger and better the book can be and more rewards we can graciously give back.

Please review the rewards and link to the project page at the right, samples below, and once again, we thank you for taking time to view our project.

Cheers!

Reward Sticker Samples (Your input will decide which are used. We will send out a questionnaire at the end of the campaign. Note- #5 is available on our site at the right, but is separate from our Kickstarter campaign and will not include  rewards.)

Samples of Other MRG Work